How to Build a Community Website?

Richard M

Richard M

@richard
Updated: Jun 17, 2025
Views: 492

Hi all, I'm a marketing manager at an Australian SaaS company that builds HR software. We're planning to set up a community website to connect HR professionals, encourage knowledge sharing, and help them get more value from our product.

I've looked into platforms like Discourse, Circle, Flarum, BetterMode, and a few open-source tools. None of them feel like the right fit so far. We're after something that goes beyond a basic forum and supports real engagement.

Our main needs are:

  • A fully managed platform

  • Gamification features to drive participation

  • Expert support for community-building

If you've built or managed a community like this, I'd love to hear your experience and any advice you can share. Thanks in advance.

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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Kaustubh Katdare

    @kaustubh-katdare • Jun 1, 2025

    The best way to build a community website is to choose a platform that integrates with your main website and offers native support to discussions, articles, quizzes and more.

    From what you've shared, it looks like you are not building just a forum; but a relationship layer around your product. A relationship layer or a network of customers can only be built with a platform that lets you engage users in multiple ways.

    The platforms you have mentioned cater only to specific use cases. For example, Circle is a community platform for course creators; but not suited for business communities. Flarum requires you to self-host it and may not be ideal given the technical debt it comes with.

    BetterMode maybe a good option; but I've heard several complaints about the speed of their platform and customer care.

    Gamification isn't what it used to be in 2015. It's great; but people aren't driven by points and badges anymore.

    Aim for a platform that offers variety of content types to engage your audience: discussions, chats, articles, webinars, jobs, events, quizzes et al. Bonus if the platform optimizes your content for SEO and AEO/GEO.

    Tools like Jatra are specifically designed to take advantage of SEO, GEO and AEO. Which means, your community's future is secured. If you wish to test-drive Jatra for your community, let me know. Happy to show you a demo.

  • Rohit Kapoor

    Rohit Kapoor

    @rohit • Jun 17, 2025

    Avoid self-hosting a community at any cost, unless you have a lot of technical expertise available at your disposal. You may save a few bucks, but it's not worth it in the grand scheme of things.

    A better option is to go with a fully-managed community platform that takes care of hosting, security, backups, patches and upgrades. You'll have a lot of time to engage with your customers and cater to their needs.

    We migrated our community from Discourse to Jatra and never going back.